Monday, October 22, 2012

I would like to wish the "Taste of Nepal Blog" readers a very Happy Bijaya Dashami. May happiness smile on your world and in your heart! Thank you for
stopping by and experiencing the culinary and cultural journey to
Nepal.

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copyright law. You may not re-use words, stories, photographs, or other
posted material without the explicit written consent and proper credit
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Saturday, October 13, 2012

The following are the two varieties of Luffa Gourd - one with smooth skin and another is ridged skin are the member of Cucurgitceae (gourd) family. It is widely grown in Nepal for cooking purpose. Both species have climbing vines, cooked similar way and is very popular vegetable item in Nepal.

Angled Luffa Gourd - Patee Gheeraula (पाटे घीरौला)

Angled luffa is called pate-gheeraula, is also known as ridged luffa, angled gourd, or Chinese okra. It is long and narrow gourd, with sharply ribbed skin. Only the young or immature luffa is used for cooking, once mature they develop a sponge-like fibrous texture and becomes bitter.

Smooth Luffa Gourd - Gheeraula - (घीरौला)

The smooth luffa is also known as silk gourd, sponge gourd, or toriya and is an extremely popular vegetable in Nepal. It resembles a long cucumber with a smooth green skin marked by fine longitudinal lines. The young gourd is sweet with a delicate and distinctive taste.

The vegetable grows in the climbing vine plant which has rounded leaves and yellow flowers. The plant is native to India and widely cultivated in Tropical Asia.

Here is a picture of freshly picked vegetables from my home garden - they are bitter melon (तितो करेला) in the front, zucchini squash (फरसी), cucumber (काँक्रो) and pumpkin vine shoots (फरसी को मुन्टा) in the back.

Patee-Ghiraula has a sharply ribbed skin surface. They are dull green colored, cylinder in shape, which may grow more than a foot in length. It is narrow and tapered at the stem-end and becomes wider as it grows.

The young fruits are edible when they are tender or immature. Once they mature, they form sponge-like fibrous texture and become bitter and inedible. Luffa gourds are cooked like any squash vegetable. Before cooking, you have to remove all the ridges, leaving only smooth creamy-white flesh, and make sure to scoop out all the matured seeds and fibers.

The matured vegetable are left in the vine to age further and made into bath sponges and pot scrubbers.

A collection of Natural Sponges made from home-grown Luffa Gourd.

Harvesting Smooth Gourd from my home garden. The young fresh vegetable has a tender skin and easily breaks if not handled properly during harvesting and packing. They are cut from the vine, rather than pulled, to avoid any damage.

Here is another picture of freshly picked homegrown Gheeraula. The mild tasting vegetable has a delicious flavor and spongy texture. It can be cooked by itself or combined with potato, radish or other vegetables. The gourd takes the flavor of whatever other ingredients it is paired with.

These two picture of smooth gourd in different size and shapes displayed at the local open vegetable markets in Kathmandu.

Enjoy Nepal's one of the most delicious Gourd vegetable!

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All information on the Taste of Nepal blog are restricted use under
copyright law. You may not re-use words, stories, photographs, or other
posted material without the explicit written consent and proper credit
to Jyoti Pathak. If you would like to use any materials here, please
contact me.

Fresh Parvar is found in abundance in Nepali markets. For more information, please check this link.

Fresh Parvar for sale

Pointed Gourd (Parvar or Parwar) is a tropical vegetable with origins in the Indian
subcontinent. The pale green fruit is oblong, 4 to 5 inches long, tapered at both ends, and
marked with a few irregular longitudinal stripes. The vegetable is prized for its nutritional value
and digestibility. It can be used to make soup, which smooths stomach
disorders. It is also wonderfully delicious simply stir-fried or sauteed in a spicy
sauce, boiled with other ingredients, or curried and stuffed. Parvar is considered a luxury
and is expensive.

A very popular vegetable in Nepal

Shopping for Parvar at open air market in the Maru Tole area of Kathmandu - a nice display of fresh, young Parvar above on the right. In the foreground of the picture, you will see the assortment of other vegetables like Bitter Melon, Yard-long Beans in the front, and Nepali variety of cucumber.

Parvar is grown in a perennial vine plant, the skin color of the fruit is bright yellow-green and the flesh inside is cream-white colored with firm seeds intact. When Parwar matures, it turns into a orange-red color and becomes tasteless. It is exclusively grown in Terai region of Nepal.

The tender fresh Parvar tastes good in a simple stir-fry. To prepare the fresh Parvar, use a sharp knife to scrape off the outer coating lightly and gently. There is no need to peel the vegetable. Cut off the pointed top and the bottom and discard. Cut it into two halves vertically, and scoop out the mature and tougher seeds, but leave the young seeds intact to cook. (Please check the recipe, Sauteed Parvar and Potato (Parvar-Alu ko Tarkari) in my cookbook "Taste of Nepal" on page 164).

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All information on the Taste of Nepal blog are restricted use under
copyright law. You may not re-use words, stories, photographs, or other
posted material without the explicit written consent and proper credit
to Jyoti Pathak. If you would like to use any materials here, please
contact me.

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All information on the Taste of Nepal blog are restricted use under copyright law. You may not re-use words, stories, photographs, or other posted material without the explicit written consent and proper credit to Jyoti Pathak. If you would like to use any materials here, please contact me.